Hand feed for acetylene generators



April 7, 1931. H.'G. IRWIN HAND FEED FOR ACETYLENE emmnnons Filed Aug. 1a, 1927 Patented Apr. 7, 1931 QF- F 'l-CE HERBERT: IRWIN, OF A ARILLO, TEXAS HAND F-EED 1 0R AGETSCLQENE'GENERATORS Application filed August 18, 1927. Serial No; 213,781.

This ihVentio-n relates to improvements in hand feeds for automatic acetylene genera-- tars of-the carbide to Water type whereby granular ca-Ibid'e' may be fed by-ha-ndinde- 5j=pendent ofthe; ant-emetic carbide feed; as

'20 in keepingthe surf-ace Ofthe' carbidefeed Valve ahld c'aifbide hopperbottem -abmit the .feed lve-in smooth condition; v

A fur-then Object of my in-Ventibnis to prov'idem'eans' for abradingjlini deposit Wlheh about the feed alve Of an acetylene genera;- tOi through ordinary use (if the-generater. With these a-I'id o'thei" obj ecte in'view, my in--- vention consistsin the arrangement, com- -30binati01i and construction 0fthe viribtts parts; of'myimpmveddevice, as deecii bed in the s eeifieatione, claimed inween-ms, ehd shown in the accompan ing drawings; in which:

Figure -1"is aflsectional View through magbide hopper of an acetylefie gheftxtofshbwing' ahand feed constructed in aee'ordance with my'inyention Figure 2 is 2t sectional view thr ough a cal-bide hopper of an; aeety1ene-genemmr Figure 3 is- 21' side View ofthe cerbide hop er shown in'Fig; 2With side, Walls c'iit away showih'g-thelatterfprin of my im' eh tion at another angle; v

Figure-4' is a l'ofig'itlldinal sectic'snal view through a han-d' feed constructed i11 aceo'i'd micewitliiiijvehtion;

'thraugh a hand, feed showing another form in which y invention may be Wbi'ked out. Figure dis a longitudinal'sectienal View through a hand feecl'fshQWi-ng still ahb'thel foiim ihwhi'ch my invent-i011 may be accbfnplished; v e e Refer-fingto theYaec-pmpahying drawings the upper portion oflthe Water: chamheiipo'f ah acetylene generator ie indicated by 1111- nierali'l, thecarbide. hop er '2,the carbide hopper bottom '3, the ,aut'o'rha'ticl Carbide .feed control 4 and the carbide feed valved The form of the, inventionehown in Fig. l egjnsists ofe tubular guideb' mounted in eliried thib igh the side Wall Of the Carbide hopper extending in the direction, of the carbide feed valve withthe inner. end ashort distance from the,vtlve.. The outer end gland 7., Extendihg through this guide, is'

a Smooth round rod 8; which willzbecalled a fcram-rod, The upper end of mhandle bar 9, is pivotedtb the outer end Of: the cramrod;

ally cohl'l'eetedwith the handle bar ai-sh-ort dis,- tance below thelupper end of; the latter". The cram r odhzis a longitudinal alternate motion in the gpideupoilworking the harrdle bar, as pulling-the h lndle ha r Out.-

w'var'd from the alibide, hopper the; crandrod is" moved ihWtrd of the hopper and ,then

by pushing the handle; be: back toward the carbide hopper-{the cram-fed is moi ed out- Ward; In eutw rdpesitionthe ihnei end Of the ciam-r'od'is back seine ,dis'tallice from ,the

feed Valve sq astobe ou'tbftheway ofcarrbide r-eabhirig the feed valve. 1h; moving the c amrod inward the inhe'r end of, the redpenetrates carbide above the Valve and upon en aging the valve the 'lttter is pli shedl open at distance siifficient t feefd (fifbldgllllhOdf erate quantity. v Shah a han-dlfeed may be used in an aeetyleh' e generator halyiilg ren auteinatie feed ahd feed control, for-misin}: by hand the initial opergiting -piiessiure 'fellbw'iiig' each recharge with c'a'rbi'de and W'atetx, I'nf smclp'ihgit ineyseri e to rembve lime dpesit: from the" feed and upper ,eiaeefme heppeebetmfii edjacem the feed A fulcrum lihk lO has one endepivoted i to a fixed po'st 1-1; and itsbther endpivotvalve by working the handle bar fro and to in rapid succession so as to force the inner end of the cram-rod through the carbide above the valve a number of times without feeding much carbide. This causes the carbide grains to grate upon the feed valve and hopper bottom which would wear away lime deposit. Thus it will be seen that such a device may be used in keeping the feed valve in smooth condition as well as being used as a hand feed. 7

In Fig. 2 the cram-rod 8 is comparatively short and is mounted in a housing 12 adjacent the feed control housing 4A. The rod extends on an incline through a spiral compression spring 13,and guide 6, to a point not far above the carbide feed valve 5. The upper end of the cram-rod is pivoted to one end of a short lever 14:, which is mounted on a short rock shaft 15 disposed in suitable bearings 15J, in the upper end of the housing 12, as will be seen upon reference to Fig. 3. A handle shaft 17, extends through a packing gland and tube 1 8, in the side wall of the carbide hopper and connects with the rock shaft 15 through a universal joint 16. The housing 19 prevents carbide coming in contact with the inner movable parts of the shafts. In this instance the cramrod is reeiprocated longitudinally to clean the feed valve and to open the feed valve by rocking the handle shaft 17 repeatedly. Upon turning the handle shaft about one quarter round clockwise thecram-rod is moved longitudinally toward the feed valve, the lower end of the cram-rod being pushed through carbide above the feed valve, and upon reaching the feed valve the latter is pushed open a distance suflicient to feed carbide. The spring 13.tends to withdraw the cramrod from the valve and carbide thus normally holding the cram-rod withdrawn when the hand shaft is released.

In Fig. 4 the handle-shaftS has a long hollow thimble 8B, over the lower end, thereof for engaging carbide and the feed valve. The lower half of the guide 6 has a bore of such size in diameter as will telescopically receive the thimble. The thimble is mounted in the guide to move longitudinally. And in order to prevent axial movement of the thimble in the guide when the handle-shaft is rotated and yet permit longitudinal movement of the thimble, a longitudinal groove X, is provided in the lower side thereof which is adapted to receive the inner end of a fixed screw 6E. The handle-shaft is mounted in the guide for rotary movement. And in order to prevent longitudinal movement of the shaft in the guide the shaft is provided with a thrust annulus SC, of such size in diameter as will fit'rotatably in the upper extremity of the enlarged bore of the guide. A thrust bushing 6F, fixed below the annulus confines the annulus to the upper end of the bore thus preventing end play of the handle-shaft. The outer end of the guide 6 is provided with a packing gland 7, through which the handle-shaft extends. The outer end of the cram-rod is provided with a crank handle 8D, by which the handle-shaft may be rotated. By means of screwthreads on the lower half of the handle-shaft engaging screwthreads on the inner periphery of the thimble, the thimble is moved longitudinally in the 'uide by turning the crank handle. This hand feed may be mounted in a carbide hopper in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 1. Then upon turning the crank handle in one direction which will move the thimble toward the feed valve some of the carbide above the feed valve will be pushed past the valve, and by turning the crank handle in the opposite direction the thimble will be moved away from the feed valve and carbide. It will be seen that by repeated turning of the crank handle several rounds in one direction and then several rounds in the opposite direction when the thimble is lowered into the carbide above the feed valve gives the thimble a longitudinal alternate motion that will force carbide past the feed valve.

In Fig. 5 the cram-rod 8 is mounted in the guide 6 for both axial and longitudinal movement. The lower half of the cram-rod is provided with external screwthreads that engage internal screwthreads at 6H, in the guide. The upper outer end of the cram-rod terminates in a crank handle 81) by which therod may be rotated to move the same longitudinally in the guide. It will be seen that by mounting this feed in a carbide hopper in a manner similar to that in Fig. 1 and by turning the crank handle in a clockwise direction the lower end of the cram-rod will be lowered to open the carbide feed valve, and then by turning the crank handle in the op posite direction the lower end of the cramrod will be moved away from the feed valve.

In Fig. 6 the poke-rod 8 is a smooth round rod, mounted in the guide 6 for longitudinal movement. By pushing on the hand-hold SY, on the outer end of the poke-rod the lower end of the rod may be lowered to open the feed valve and by pulling outward on the hand-hold the lower end of the rod may be moved away from the feed valve. 1

It will be seen that by poking into carbide immediately above the feed valve or forcing carbide past the feed valve causes the carbide grains to grate upon the feed valve and hopper bottom about the feed'valve, Such abrading has a cleaning effect on the feed valve and hopper bottom in that it wears away lime cake that forms at times on and about the feed valve which hinders the feeding'of carbide. By having such a hand feeding means on an automatic acetylene generator to be worked every time the generator is recharged or to be worked at will would not only keep down lime cake but would keep the surface of the feed valve and hopper bottom smooth, which goes to reduce resistance to the feeding of carbide in the automatic valve feed generator.

While I have shown and described several hand feeds constructed in accordance with my invention, it will be manifest to persons skilled in the art that many changes may be made in minor details of structure in adapting the feed to various generators, and slight changes in the mode of operation of same within the scope of the appended claims, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention; it is, therefore, to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details described andshown.

What I claim is l 1. In a hand feed for an automatic acety lene generator having a carbide feed valve adapted to feed carbide from above the valve, a poke rod, one end of said rod directed toward said feed valve, a guide for holding said rod in the direction of said feed valve, a hand hold means for applying longitudinal alternate movement to said rod whereby the said end of the rod may be moved to abut against the feed valve and push the feed valve open for feeding carbide.

2. In a hand feed for an automatic acetylene generatorhaving a carbide feed valve adapted to feed carbide from above the valve, a cram head in the vicinity of said feed'valve, means for guiding said cram head in the direction of said feed valve, hand operated means for applying alternate movement to said cram head for cramming carbide down past the feed valve.

3. In a hand feed for an automatic acetylene generator having a carbide feed valve adapted to feed carbide from above the valve, a cram rod, one end of said rod directed toward said feed valve, a guide'for holding said rod in the direction of said feed valve, spring means for normally holding said rod away,

from the valve, hand operated means for applying longitudinal alternate movement of said rod whereby said end of the rod may be moved toward said feed valve to cram carbide against the feed valve and to open the valve. 4:- In a cleaner for the carbide feed valve of an automatic feed hopper of an acetylene generaton'a cram rod, one end of said rod disposed in the vicinity of said feed valve and extending in the direction of the feed valve, a guide for keeping said rod in the direction and means for withdrawing the rod from? the feed valve.

6. In combination, an acetylene generator having an automatic carbide feed control ineluding an elastic fluid pressure tank with 7 means responsive to change of gas pressure in the generator having a vertical rod connection with a depressible carbide feed valve, an auxiliary comprising a second rod arranged obliquely of the first named rod and guided for longitudinal movement by hand for depressing the carbide feed valve to feed carbide into the generator.

HERBERT G. IRWIN.

of said feed valve, hand means for applying 7 longitudinal alternate movement to said rod whereby, the said end of the rod may be moved toward the feed valve through carbide present in the hopper above the feed valve to grate carbide against the feed valve and hopper bottom about the feed valve.

5. In combination, an acetylene generator 

